Building brick and wall



July 25, 1939. l B. ROMAN 2,167,187

' BUILDING BRICK AND WALL Filed Feb. 23, 1958 Patented July 25, 1939 UNI-T ED STATES BUILDING BRICK AND WALL Benjamin Roman, New York, N. Y.

Application February 23, 1938, Serial No. 191,980

11 Claims.

This-invention relates to a building brick to be yused for" building exterior walls"` of a house, also to such. a wall, and to wall insi'ilation.

Heretofore, brickv exterior building walls were erectedby the usualmethod of bricklaying, and plastering with painting were resorted to for completing the interior of the wall. At present, however, thosemethods, which go back to times immemcrial, yare considered objectionable for several important reasons. .Dueto many social and economic conditions, there has arisen a vast requirement for low cost housing, low cost housingmaintenance, and improved comforts. Thus, it is deemed essential that the initial cost of housing erection should be greatly reduced, that maintenance costs be likewise reduced, that house cares connected with heating be eliminated and such heating be obtainable at low cost, and that exterior walls be insulated against summer heat, as well as renderedfnrep-roof. It is recognized that comfortable heating is acquirable by resorting to automatic systems, such as oil or gas` ring controlled by thermostatic devices, and that dueto the high' cost of operating these systems it is also imperative that the exterior walls of the building be efficiently insulated. Such` insulation can be economically provided forv non-firep'roofframe' buildings, wherein the exterior walls are hollow and therefore afford intervening space which can be simply filled with highly eicient insulation, such as mineral woolf. For brick buildings, however, the latter methodcannot be resorted to because its exterior walls are necessarily solid.

The principal object' of the invention is to accomplish all of the above mentioned aims, and to providey arbuilding brick Wherev/ith .an exterior building wall may be erected that will supply the aforesaid sought'for advantages of low costerection, elimination of interior wall maintenance and redecorations, improved insulation, and resulting reduced vcost of automatic heating, wherewith all other comforts incident thereto are attained.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In theA accompanying drawing- Fig. l is .a perspective view, partly in crosssection andpartly in full, showing a portion'of a wall constituting the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan' view of the building brick constituting the invention.

Fig.V 3 is alsideelevation ofthe brick shown in Fig. 2.

lig;E 4 isi av plan'V View' showing a portion of an exterior building Wall which is a modification of the invention, and wherein there are utilized bricks of a inodication of the invention.

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of one of the bricks shown in Fig. 4. 5

The brick i is made of substantially the same or similar materials .as those utilized for the manufacture of ordinary bricks, and comprises a solid portion 2 which conforms to an ordinary building brick and a portion 3 which is integral therewith but hollow, providing a front face 4 Vand corner brackets 5 which join Said face with the brick-portion 2, thereby forming windows 5 for the' hollow space or chamber 'i of the portion The chamber 'i is completely lled with an 15 efficient insulating material 8, such vas mineral wool, and each of the windows is covered over with apane 9 consisting of wire cloth, which may be of the type utilized for windowscreens in summertime, by whichA means the insulating material 8 is securely and efliciently maintained in the requisite free fluffy condition required for it. The wire cloth panes S are retained in place by being either molded directly in the brick material or cementedth'ereto. In the'rear part of the solid brick portion 2 is formed a recess l0 which serves formanipulation during the handiing of the bricks or in the bricklaying, the operative inserting his fingers in the said opening while applying the thumb to the face li ofthe brick to thereby handle it conveniently.'v The thickness or hollow brickA portion 3l is greater thanfthat of the solid portion 2, as'shown in Fig. 3 as in the building of` the Wall the top and bottom faces i2 of portions 3 of adjoining bricks contact with each other, while the faces I3 of the solid portions? are separated by the intervening binding mortar lli, as clearly illustrated in Fig. l. On its front face l thev hollow brick portion 3 is provided with a surface 4a, which is tiled or otherwise decoratively finished to Vrender it suitable for the purposes required of a wall of the interior of a room, such treatment of said surface being indicated by the dash and dot lines, Fig. 2. 45

vWhen building a Wall l5, Fig. l, with the bricks i, the latter are laid in theordinary manner, with the mortar lli disposed between the faces iof its solid portions 2, and the process is continued until the entire wallis completed, the joints 5b of interior faces 4 being properly pointed up in the manner of an ordinary tile wall. As the wall l5 is thus finished, therefore, it constitutesan eiiricient solid brick wall 15a consistingof the solid portions 2 of the bricks I,

while integral therewith there is simultaneouslyr Y erected a hollow brickwall Ib carrying therewith a ller 8 of mineral wool insulation, which extends therethrough Vcontiguously, vertically and laterally throughout the wall, except for the intervening wire screens 9 and the adjoining brick-brackets 5, that doV not however materially effectrthe otherwise substantially uninterrupted insulation material 8.

VAccording tothe modification shown in Figs. 4, 5, a brick I 6 is provided, which embodies all Vthe elements of the portion 3 of brick I, but is unconnected with any solid portion, this brick having a closed rear face I1. The above described wall I5 is of a bulk suitable for small or moderate-sized homes or dwellings, but for building larger houses a sufficiently thick Ywall I8 may be built withrordinary bricks I9 in the 1 usual manner, and upon its interior side a wall consisting of the insulation bricks I6 may be erected as shown in Fig. 3, by the rear'faces I'I being mortared, as shown at 20, to thev brick wall VVVwire cloth panes 8 the mineral wool Twill at all all' times be maintain-ed therein in the free uncompacted fluffy condition which is requisite'to this material and to its emciency.

vIt will be evident that in erecting lizing the bricks of the invention, all of the advantages hereinabove referred to will be attained. By erecting the Vpartitioning walls of the rooms with tile-facings corresponding to the surface 4a of the bricks, it will not be necessary 55VIL ducing maintenance expenses.

to resort to lathing, plastering, kalsomining, and

painting of thewalls, which will result in greatly M 4reducing the initial cost of the building.' Also,

' subsequentrepeated plaster repairs and redecoration expense will be eliminated, thereby recharacter of these walls will likewise obviate losses and reduce insurance costs. 'I'he eilicient insulationV of these walls will keep the house warm in winter and cool in summer, and will greatly reduce the cost of1automatic heating, as Well as providing the well known comforts incident to such heating.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. AV buildingbrick comprising the combination of Van exterior Vsolid'portion having dimensions Vand weight of a regular exterior wall brick, another interior portion integral with said portion intended to form the interior side of a wall, said latter portion being hollow and having windows on top, bottom, and sides thereof, andsaid hollow chamber and windows being filled with insulating material. Y Y

2. A building'brick comprising the combination of an exterior solid portionhaving dimensions rand weight of a regular exterior wall brick, another interior portion integral with said portion intended to form the interior side a wall,

a dwellingV with the'outside walls of this invention, and uti-V The reproof said latter portion being hollow and having windows on top, bottom, and sides thereof, said hollow chamber and windows being filled with in-v tion of an exterior solid portion having dimensions and weight of a regular exterior wall brick, another interior portion integral with said portion intended to form the interior side of a wall, said latter portion being hollow and having windows on top, bottom, and sides thereof, said hollow chamber and windows being filled with insulating material, and said windows being covered with means to retain saidk material.

4. A building brick comprising the combination of an exterior solid portion having dimensions and weightfof a regular exterior wall brick, another interior portion integral with said portion intended to form the interior side of a wall, said latter portionY being hollow and having windows ontop, bottom, and'sides thereof,'said hollow chamber and windows being filled with insulating material, and the face of said Vsecond portion being windowless and treated for interior decoration. Y

5. A building brick comprising.` the combination of an exterior solid portion having dimen` sions and weight of a regular exterior wall brick,

another interior portion integral with said por-Y tion intended to form the interior side of a wall, said latter portion beingl hollow and having windows on top, bottom, and sides thereof, said hol-f low chamber and windows being'lled with insulating material, @said Vwindows being covered with means to retain said material, and the face of said second portion being windowless and treated for interior decoration.

6. A building brick `for the interior side of a wall having dimensions and weight for manipulation with one hand, said brick being hollow and provided with windows on top, bottom, and

sides thereof, said hollow chamber being filled h withinsulating-material, and said windows being covered with wire cloth to retain said material. 7. A buildingV brick for the interior side of a wall having dimensions and weight for manlpu' lation with one hand, said brick being hollow and provided with windows on top, bottom, and sides thereof, said hollow chamber being filled Y With insulating material, and said windows being Y covered with means to retain said material.`

8. A building brick for the interior side'of a wall having dimensions and Weight for manipulation'with one hand, said brick being hollow and provided with windows on top, bottom, and

9. A building brick comprising the' combina` tion of an exterior solid portion having dimensions and weight of a regular exterior wall brick, another interior portion integral with said portion intended to form the interior side of a wall,

said latter portion being hollow and having windows on top, bottom, and sides thereof, said hoilow chamber;` and windows being filled withinsulating material, and said hollow portion beingA thicker than said solid portion for interposition of mortar for said solid portion.

10. A building brick comprising the combina-V I tion of an exterior solid portion having dimensions and weight of a regular exterior wall brick,

another interior portion integral with said portion intended to form the interior side of a wall, said latter portion being hollow and having windows on top, bottom, and sides thereof, said hollow chamber and windows being filled with insulating material, and said solid portion having a recess for inserting fingers for grasping the brick.

11. A building brick comprising the combination of an exterior solid portion having dimensions and weight of a regular exterior wall brick,

another interior portion integral with said portion intended to form the interior side of a wall, said latter portion being hollow and having Windows on top, bottom, and sides thereof, said hollow chamber and windows being filled with insulating material, said hollow portion being thicker than said solid portion for interposition of mortar for said solid portion, and said solid portion having a recess for inserting fingers for grasping the brick.

BENJAMIN ROMAN. 

